1979 Starcraft 16’ SS Refresh

[Moserkr]

@SHSU haha thanks! Bunch of good thoughts right there from all your experience. I considered wood paneling and its still on the table as an option. Plan to stop at the orange box tomorrow for a few little things for riveting, and to get a better idea on wood plans. At least I measured tonight and its close to 10’ from stern to the front of the console, and roughly 10” high. I may run wood all the way up to the top of the gunwale along the console and under the splash well. Will definitely mention the high gloss issue to the Admiral. I already have and wanted to do satin... And... just had the conversation lol. High gloss is off the table, she just wants a little shine lol . That worked out well, ill use what I have on hand.

I like the light brown floor better than the dark and agree with the sun warming it too much. Also dirt shows more on a darker floor. Speaking of reflecting sun rays, polished aluminum would definitely do that. Admiral n I agreed on painting the spots I nyloxed plain white. Easier and cheaper than polishing which would require another tool.

Thanks for the riveting tip! Of course Im going to try out the rivet gun before I leave lol. Will definitely do some tests on spare AL before I start hammering down on the boat. Been watching a bunch of youtube videos on it but no one mentioned that one yet.

Feeling pretty good about the next steps now, and have a good picture of the final look in the end. Appreciate the input! Actually looked at your boat today with the Admiral and she was admiring your paint job and colors. Ours will be close in color and pattern but also a little different. Ill think more about paint when that time gets closer!

 

[Moserkr]

Spent some time today cleaning up the remaining support brackets, knee brace, and other metal with the old nylox brush. Almost got it all. Ran into two issues - had a rusted self tapping screw stuck in one of the knee brace holes. Then from my hammering, grinding, and drilling that out, I ended up tearing both transom tabs on the knee brace.... see pics... stupid and bummed. What I broke was already bent up a bit and is the part of the brace that bolts through just below the motor. But i do have a friend thats good at aluminum welding (custom jet boat builder), so he said he would patch her up. Honestly, i think it was compromised before I really broke it. Better now than later on the water and I know it will be fixed stronger than it was before. One question - I have lots of holes in the knee brace that are double or oversize. Do I have them welded shut and redrill? I have 1/4” rivets but im guessing some wont even be fixed by bigger rivets. Thoughts?

Also put a layer of spar on my front bow support pieces. I think the satin will shine enough to keep the Admiral happy, and my wallets happy that it was already on hand. Took a look at gunnel wood too and Im leaning towards cedar strips right now. Will cross that bridge once the floors are in though. Bummed I wont get to do any work on the boat for a few weeks. Until then Im living vicariously through the rest of ya!

 

[racerone]

When they bend thin material like that there are " stress risers " at the bend.---------Any flexing on aluminum often results in cracks like that.

 

[benfish909]

I would just cut the tabs off and bolt some angle aluminum to the transom and knee brace. If you can find 1/4” thick x 2” angle aluminum it should work great. I don’t have any pictures of mine but I can prob get some tomorrow. I did 1” angle on the bottom and 2” on the stern that rivets to the transom skin but have some 2” for stern side that attaches to the wood part of the transom that is not pictured. Please excuse that ridiculous amount of 5200

 

[SHSU]

My tabs for the transom side of the knee brace were broken off. So my welder put new tabs on for me and filled in the other holes at the bottom of the hull so I could redrill. If you have that option, I would do that. Also as @benfish909 you can bolt/rivet some aluminum stock as well. There are other threads where people did that instead of having it welded



SHSU

 

[Moserkr]

@benfish909 Battleship mentality lol. I dont remember reading that in your thread, may have just forgotten already. Was already thinking about putting extra plate behind it, but thats next level haha. Never even considered bolting.

@SHSU Good to know you had the same issue basically. Those tabs were all bent to begin with so im not surprised they broke easy. I noticed the knee brace doesnt sit level either, but has a wobble. Hoping it goes away when it gets hammered in.

I think I may do a combo of those two ideas. Only the top tabs that anchor the transom are hammered bad, and the others that attach the hull are mostly good. The transom tabs could be upgraded to a thicker AL as well, either bolted or welded. Need to prep the outside of the hull and clean away the coat-it so i can use an outside plate too. If all that fails then at least I can get to that area without pulling the floors. Edit: oh yea it even looks like someone walked a rivet gun on the wrong side of the brace! Weird... blaming it on starcraft’s friday shift. Theres a few spots around the stern that are suspect.

 

[benfish909]

This got me thinking. What if you had your friend weld on a flat plate say 6” wide to act as both tabs but then also gave more surface area for support than the skinny tabs.

 

[Moserkr]

@benfish909 I like that idea! At the same time upgrade the thickness too. I was reading another forum that said any flex in aluminum causes cracking (eventually). I originally thought maybe a tiny bit of flex was good to save rivets. Now Im thinking zero flex, and knowing how boats hit water so hard, these need more structure. The more I look at it, starcraft was building them at a bare minimum but very simple. Lots of 90* bends in brackets and braces to hold it all together.

My boat also came with an aluminum plate that matches my transom perfectly which is nice. Need to decide where to place that exactly too. PO’s had it layered hull, transom wood, then extra AL. If I do that I want to tie in that extra AL even more since its heavy. Or could place it hull, extra AL, then transom wood. Just another thought i need to keep in mind.

 

[SHSU]

If you add extra thickness it will bump the rivets holes back along the bottom of the hull. As long as your friend welds the old holes shut you can drill new ones.

SHSU

 

[Moserkr]

@SHSU that is a good point! The holes on the bottom of the hull have a few double drilled as well. Hoping an external plate helps too. What i end up doing depends on if i can get to a metal shop before he works on it. Lots of work to do and im leaving town!! Will try to hit up the metal shop on my way home. Hoping they have a scrap bin of AL

 

[Moserkr]

When the forums are slow I start looking at stuff on the net... local to me theres a 21’ holiday i/o for $800!! Someone looking for a big project??

https://chico.craigslist.org/bpo/d/paradise-starcraft/7258657914.html

Price reflects its poor condition - needs everything including a motor by the looks of it. Admiral is already talking about the next boat so... hahaha not there yet. Id take a 22’ holiday or islander ob with an offshore bracket though for some serious fishing. Will never sell my 16’ ss though, figure my first mate will get that one day.

 

[SHSU]

When the forums are slow I start looking at stuff on the net... local to me theres a 21’ holiday i/o for $800!! Someone looking for a big project??

https://chico.craigslist.org/bpo/d/paradise-starcraft/7258657914.html

Price reflects its poor condition - needs everything including a motor by the looks of it. Admiral is already talking about the next boat so... hahaha not there yet. Id take a 22’ holiday or islander ob with an offshore bracket though for some serious fishing. Will never sell my 16’ ss though, figure my first mate will get that one day.

If I only had the space for such a project.....

SHSU

 

[Moserkr]

Having withdraws from watching everyone else slowly work on their boats... at least Im having fun freezing my nuts off with my dad and 94 year old grandpa. He is a living legend!! Shot 4 birds today! Out drew me on one too and Im no slouch.

 

[classiccat]

When the forums are slow I start looking at stuff on the net... local to me theres a 21’ holiday i/o for $800!! Someone looking for a big project??

https://chico.craigslist.org/bpo/d/paradise-starcraft/7258657914.html

Price reflects its poor condition - needs everything including a motor by the looks of it. Admiral is already talking about the next boat so... hahaha not there yet. Id take a 22’ holiday or islander ob with an offshore bracket though for some serious fishing. Will never sell my 16’ ss though, figure my first mate will get that one day.

Wow! 94 and still knockin' them down!

The seller might regret giving away Dad's boat someday. It's all there & it appears to even has the right hole for the outdrive (non-WLOD!)

I'm in a similar boat (literally) where I've been contemplating dragging home my grandfather's 1973 Chrysler New Yorker (440 big block!) It has been rotting away in my father's damp garage for 30 years. Unfortunately it's a unibody and I don't have the chops for that level repair...but I'd love to get that 440 back to life!

 

[Moserkr]

@classiccat Yes gramps is something else. Still sells real estate to this day as well and takes his wife dancing every week.

Id sure regret selling something like that coming from my family. Definitely doesnt look like its been well taken care of. If it werent 3 hours from me Id probably at least look at it haha. Whats non-WLOD? Excuse my ignorance, but sounds like something good I should know.

That Chrysler New Yorker sure would be fun to have as a sunday cruiser!! Especially it being your grandfathers. If you and your wallet feel up to it, maybe one day you can revive her to her former glory. I know cars and boats are not cheap no matter which one you want to restore lol.

 

[classiccat]

@classiccat Yes gramps is something else. Still sells real estate to this day as well and takes his wife dancing every week.

Id sure regret selling something like that coming from my family. Definitely doesnt look like its been well taken care of. If it werent 3 hours from me Id probably at least look at it haha. Whats non-WLOD? Excuse my ignorance, but sounds like something good I should know.

That Chrysler New Yorker sure would be fun to have as a sunday cruiser!! Especially it being your grandfathers. If you and your wallet feel up to it, maybe one day you can revive her to her former glory. I know cars and boats are not cheap no matter which one you want to restore lol.

It's an inspiration that your grandfather is still that active...also, with those genes, it's good that you're building your boat to last!

I actually forgot about Pap's land yacht until I got addicted to Vice Grips Garage on youtube. Now a guy wants a classic in his garage to wrench on !

WLOD: White Leg of Death. It's a phrase given to the OMC I/Os (outdrive is usually White with a round keyway)... good in their day however parts are apparently impossible to find.

 

[Moserkr]

We interrupt this boat resto thread for more hunting pictures hahaha.

@classiccat Got into them again today!! Yes I definitely look up to him a lot. Ive been very blessed. My great-grandpa was a big fisherman and hunter, so my dad grew up hunting with him and my grandpa. We still hunt the land they hunted on for almost 100 years. My great-grandpa had an old small tin boat and he would catch tons of walleye on Lake Oahe in sodak. When he needed a new outboard for it the shop he took it to said they had never seen one with so many miles on it! This was back in the 50s and 60s. He hunted, fished, and practiced dentistry until age 89 when he unfortunately dropped his boat trailer on his foot, breaking it. It all went downhill from there but still lived to be 93.

Land yacht!! Haha. Would be worth rebuilding if you have room to store it right!! Ive only owned trucks but i sure do appreciate classic cars.

Good to know about the WLOD. Thanks!

 

[Moserkr]

Bored again, at the airport, need more people working on their boats!! Found a real nice one on c-list that looks very clean, possibly original garage kept.

79 22" StarCraft Aluminum Boat for Sale
https://humboldt.craigslist.org/wan/d/redway-starcraft-aluminum-boat-for-sale/7254263582.html

Had an epic trip hunting, ended up with 58 birds between 3 guys, including my 94 year old grandpa! No dogs too, just me haha. Looking forward, for the most part, to getting home and working on my boat. Looks like I have the part-time seasonal job of snow shoveling coming up too.

 

[Moserkr]

Spent 6 hours shoveling snow when I got home this week but luckily not much more forecasted yet. Wont have a chance to do much work until next week, but Ill be buying major parts and tools friday when I roll into the big city.

Main things Im buying are:
4’x8’ or 10’ AL 5052 sheet
Have trailer brackets built
HF Sheet Metal Bender
Vise
Good jigsaw metal blade
Transom wood

What I need to order online next is a fuel tank and transom/floor epoxy. I know iboats is having a sale so got my eye on some stuff there. Have a surprise direction Im going with the fuel tank... . Not sure what kind of epoxy to buy for the transom so would appreciate suggestions. @Dacranks was wondering the same thing in his new thread. Happy to see another 16ss being done!!

 

[SHSU]

Not sure what kind of epoxy to buy for the transom so would appreciate suggestions. !

I used Fasco epoxy for my sealing. Other big names are Total Boat and West System. Also there are recommendations to use glass if you are using epoxy to seal. I didn't, but something to take into account.

SHSU